The HBS hosts get to the bottom of what is real, what exists, and what is virtual.

In this episode, we take head on the question of whether an analysis, understanding, and assumption of reality, in other words, metaphysics, is a crucial task for philosophy. We argue about whether metaphysics should come before social and political theory, political engagement, and ethics. We come clean about our own positions on what is real. In short, we get real with reality.

In this episode, we discuss the following items, texts, works, thinkers, and artists:

• Carlo M. Cipolla’s “Basic Laws of Human Stupidity”
• Aristotle’s Metaphysics
• The origin of the term “metaphysics”
• Quentin Crisp
• Karl Marx, Capital, vol 1
• Theodor Adorno, Negative Dialectics
• Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians 4:18
• Kellyanne Conway’s “Alternative Facts”
• Our episode on Comedy
• The discussion of comedy in Hegel’s Philosophy of Fine Art
• Our previous episode on Robots
• Kwame Anthony Appiah’s essay, “How to Decide if Races Exist”
• Charles W. Mills essay “But What are you Really?” in Blackness Visible
• Rick’s metaphysics (shameless plug!)

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